Chapter 111

“The first dress seems to suit Her Highness best, in my opinion.”

“I liked them all, but if I had to choose, I’d say the third one was the nicest…”

“In that case, wouldn’t the fourth be even better?”

“But the fourth dress is a bit outdated in terms of style.”

“Who cares about trends? As long as it’s pretty, that’s all that matters.”

Every dress Princess Florin wore made people gasp in admiration. Naturally, picking one took a long time.

Madame Dewey preferred the first dress, Sasha favored the third, and I personally thought the fourth—though a little out of style—looked the most beautiful.

With all three of us having different opinions, it was no surprise the decision was so hard.

“Let’s just ask Her Highness to choose,” I suggested.

Truthfully, her honey-colored hair didn’t quite match with the soft lavender fabric of the dress. Not in a way that would make anyone say, “What a perfect combination!”

And perhaps that was a relief. If even the color had suited her perfectly, people might not be sure whether I or the princess was the main character of the day.

A bridesmaid who outshines the bride? That’s just a headache waiting to happen.

Besides, no matter what she wore, she looked more stunning than necessary. Letting her pick what she liked most was clearly the right call—and everyone agreed.

I turned to Princess Florin and asked which dress she liked best.

She hesitated for a long while before finally opening her mouth.

“I like the third one the most.”

Why her face turned bright red like a ripened persimmon while saying that, I had no idea—but I nodded immediately.

“Great choice. Madame Dewey, we’ll go with that one.”

“Oh goodness, this took quite a while. You’ve all worked so hard.”

We had arrived at the salon early in the morning, and now the entire day had passed without stepping outside once.

Normally, the job of helping the client change clothes would fall to hired staff, but Madame Dewey insisted on assisting me personally, given how important I was as a customer.

As she helped me out of the dress, she leaned in and asked in a hushed voice,

“By the way, Lady Roha… what exactly is going on between Her Highness and Lord Alessandro?”

“Pardon?”

“I couldn’t help noticing the way they were looking at each other—it wasn’t ordinary.”

“You saw that too?”

“Of course I did. I’ve got eyes, haven’t I? I already figured his standards would be high, but wow—her level is way up there.”

Madame Dewey whispered that with a chuckle, saying it made sense no other young lady had ever caught Sasha’s attention if that was his standard of beauty.

“But didn’t the papers say the princess would find her partner through a divine oracle?”

Apparently, Madame Dewey had been reading the news and was aware of the oracle situation.

“That’s right.”

“Well, then let’s just hope the name written in that oracle is Lord Roha’s.”

I nodded fervently at her words.

“Really, I hope so too.”

If a god—any god with even a shred of sense—had any clue at all, the name written in the oracle received by Prince Garbo had to be Sasha’s.

Anything else would be a disaster waiting to happen.

* * *

Time flowed on, and before I knew it, the day before the engagement ceremony had arrived.

Though the engagement was supposed to be a simple event between the two families, the guest list kept growing—as expected, given our family names. The end result far exceeded what I’d imagined.

“Vivian, are you asleep?”

Unable to fall asleep, I was tossing and turning in bed when Princess Florin peeked her head through the door to the guest room. I patted the bed beside me, inviting her in at once.

“Your Highness! Please, come in.”

“Sorry to bother you… I couldn’t sleep, so I thought maybe…”

“Not at all. I couldn’t sleep either. I’ve been tossing around this whole time.”

I told her the truth.

“Can’t believe there are hundreds of guests. It’s just an engagement, after all.”

“Same here. I’ve never been a bridesmaid before…”

As she said that, the princess repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists. With her shy nature, it was obvious she was nervous about standing in front of so many people as a bridesmaid.

“H-How do you feel?”

She asked, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Word had reached us that Prince Garbo had left Gellang. It was said that he’d received the divine oracle from the temple. Barring any delays, the Prince would arrive within the week—and with that, the Princess’s marriage would be officially decided.

“It just… doesn’t feel real.”

I slowly closed and opened my eyes.

So many things had happened since the day I first met Armin, and only a vague sense of it all lingered in my chest. The thought that tomorrow, he and I would officially become a couple—it left me feeling dazed and surreal.

“I always felt like we were together, even without having an engagement. But now that it’s really happening… it feels strange.”

I stared down at my left hand.

Of all the preparations for the wedding, the only thing yet to be decided was the wedding ring that would rest on my fourth finger forever.

Oddly enough, choosing the engagement ring had been far easier than the wedding one.

Armin and I had picked out a slim, delicate band together—something simple enough to wear every day. The Duchess had scoffed at our choice, insisting a future duchess should wear a ring adorned with a diamond the size of a fingernail.

“What about you, Your Highness? How are you feeling?”

“Me? What do you mean, how do I feel…?”

“When Prince Garbo returns, your marriage will be decided, right?”

At my words, her face visibly darkened.

“Yes… once my brother returns…”

“Your Highness.”

“Yes, Vivian.”

Princess Florin no longer called me Lady Roha. She called me Vivian now. And just as her way of addressing me had changed, so too had the depth of our friendship.

I genuinely wished for her happiness.

“Sasha likes you.”

“Ah… um…”

At the mention of Alessandro’s nickname, the Princess lowered her head. But she didn’t need to respond. Her silence told me enough.

While she stayed at our home, it was clear that even my brother seemed like a different person—and the same could be said for Princess Florin.

The princess, who supposedly always wore a veil in public out of shyness, hadn’t worn one even once when she went out with Sasha.

“I just want you to be happy, Your Highness.”

I said, meddling a bit, but sincerely.

After a long silence, Princess Florin spoke quietly.

“I… can’t refuse the divine oracle.”

“But what truly matters is how you feel.”

At my words, she forced a faint smile.

It looked so fragile that I regretted bringing it up at all.

“Thank you. Vivian, you’re always kind and good to me.”

“Princess Florin…”

“Let’s think about that later, okay? For now, let’s just focus on your engagement tomorrow. Hmm?”

She changed the subject, speaking in a deliberately cheerful voice.

“You said the engagement would be held outdoors, right?”

I nodded.

It was styled exactly after the outdoor wedding from the Duchess’s romance novel—one where a couple is married under a cascade of light purple wisteria blossoms.

We’d originally hoped the warm spring weather would make such a wedding possible, but after repeated delays, the engagement ceremony had taken its place instead.

“With so many guests coming, it’s probably for the best.”

Typically, an engagement ceremony would be a small gathering of family. But thanks to the prestige of the Grey family, many people wanted to attend.

The guest list had grown and grown, now approaching nearly a thousand.

“Even for a ducal house, this many guests at an engagement is unheard of.”

“It just means everyone wants to celebrate you and Lord Grey.”

Her kind heart, which never harbored ill feelings toward anyone, shone through in her words. Her eyes sparkled like someone caught in a dream.

“There are no wisteria trees in Gellang, so at first I couldn’t picture what you were describing. But after seeing it… it really does feel like the perfect place for your wedding.”

The gloomy atmosphere lifted as Princess Florin smiled brightly.

Wanting to lighten her heart a little more, I made a suggestion.

“Shall we try on our dresses?”

Because of the tight schedule, the dresses had only been completed and delivered to the mansion that morning.

With all the preparations during the day, I’d only had time to try mine on once.

“Shall we?”

“Yes. Besides, they’ll get wrinkled if we wear them all day tomorrow. Michelle will press them again in the morning.”

“Then wait just a moment—I’ll go get mine.”

The Princess dashed off to her room and returned with her bridesmaid dress.

A soft lavender hue—somewhere between violets and wisteria blooms.

The dresses looked like twins: similar yet distinct.

Mine had delicate, fairy-wing-like fabric with intricate and dazzling embellishments, while hers was a simpler empire-style gown with an innocent charm. I didn’t even need to see her wear it to know how well it would suit her.

It was too late to bother Michelle, so we quietly giggled as we changed clothes ourselves—just like two girls playing dress-up for a fashion show.

We weren’t wearing corsets, nor were we made up, but as we stood in our dresses, it finally felt real: tomorrow was the engagement.

“Lord Grey is a very lucky man.”

Startled by her sudden comment, I nodded playfully.

“I think so too.”

Normally, I’d say Armin was the better-looking one.

But as they say, clothes make the person.

And with such fairy-like fabric, even my usually plain self felt like I deserved a few extra points today.

With a stifled snort, we both burst into laughter—without anyone needing to start it first.